23 citizens graduate from police academy

By By Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
The fourth and largest class of Hartselle Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy was honored at a graduation ceremony at the City Hall Auditorium Oct. 22.
Each of the 23 graduates received a certificate suitable for framing and a T-shirt. Two of them-Leigh Ann Beard and Robin Hayes—were singled our as recipients of the “Top Gun” award. This award is given to the female and male who post the highest scores, respectively, firing a weapon on the police department’s firing range. Awards were presented by Police Chief Ron Puckett with the assistance of Capt. Tom Sparks and Lt. Linda Fox.
Fox said information received from one of the students in the academy provided police a lead that led to the bust of a meth lab.
Key speaker for the graduation exercise was Johnny Cooper, an Alabama native who is serving with the FBI in Huntsville as a supervisory special agent.
Academy alumni Bob Jaques and Lena Wallace spoke briefly about the work of the local alumni association and invited all academy alumni to become members.
Chaplain Alan Host opened and closed the program with prayer.